It's not all about Howard. Even if he made all his FT (I think he missed about 12 in total), Lakers would've probably lost still.

The biggest problem was letting ORL score 40 points the 4th quarter. This is due to bad defense. We would need to blame everyone in the team for this, including Pringles and the front office for hiring him.

Pringles had weird rotations, and does not understand adjustments. I wouldn't say he's Mike Brown level yet, but somewhat close.

Hack-a-Dwight is not a secret. Everyone is using it against Lakers and yet Pringles didn't come up with ANY plan to counter it. Instead, he's just planning to wait for Nash to come back and HOPE for all the problems to be gone. I highly doubt Nash will improve the team's defense or Howard's FT%.

The biggest problem was letting ORL score 40 points the 4th quarter. This is due to bad defense. We would need to blame everyone in the team for this, including Pringles and the front office for hiring him.

YES.

The Lakers defense is beyond porous, particularly in the fourth quarter of games... It's downright nonexistent.

My god I hate D'Antoni for not benching Dwight until the 2 minute mark. Stop worrying about his confidence and get him out of the game. It's costing us games.

Actually, Dwight actually did OK at the free throw line in the 4th quarter. He actually made a couple clutch ones. Lakers need Dwight to anchor the defense. He is the only center on the team. And with Gasol out, there is really no other option available.

Wow, lakers lost tonight? Couldn't finish the 4th quarter, but thought they had it in hand.

Kobe was a lot more aggressive tonight, looking for his shot from the start. That was different from the last couple games which I'm fine with, but then dwight doesn't really get his touches and as a result isn't as active on the defensive side.

I was hoping for the best with dantoni, but he doesn't seem to adjust to the strengths of his players. Rather if they don't fit into this offense, then too bad.

His rotations have been off, but since he came in late and doesn't know some of the players, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt there. Any personal agenda he may have with jordan hill though needs to be put aside.

Actually, Dwight actually did OK at the free throw line in the 4th quarter. He actually made a couple clutch ones. Lakers need Dwight to anchor the defense. He is the only center on the team. And with Gasol out, there is really no other option available.

Completely disagree.

Dwight shot 50% (5/10) down the stretch so that's 5 points he gave us, but more importantly giving them an EXTRA 5 possessions because obviously no time is wasted since we're at the line. They started fouling him at 3:18 left in the game. Because we ran off no time with Dwight shooting FT's, they scored 7 points in 1:18 of game time. A time frame which wouldn't have existed.

Benching Dwight for 1:18 (when they started fouling Dwight) while Jordan Hill has played great defensively wasn't going to hurt us that badly. It gave the Rockets time that would have never existed.

Although that wasn't the end all, I think it was the biggest factor in the game. Kobe's pathetic defense to close out the game as well as our inability to grab a rebound also killed us.

Wow, lakers lost tonight? Couldn't finish the 4th quarter, but thought they had it in hand.

Kobe was a lot more aggressive tonight, looking for his shot from the start. That was different from the last couple games which I'm fine with, but then dwight doesn't really get his touches and as a result isn't as active on the defensive side.

I was hoping for the best with dantoni, but he doesn't seem to adjust to the strengths of his players. Rather if they don't fit into this offense, then too bad.

His rotations have been off, but since he came in late and doesn't know some of the players, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt there. Any personal agenda he may have with jordan hill though needs to be put aside.

While I don't mind Kobe taking a good amount of shots, it's clear we're more successful when he doesn't.The Lakers are 1-9 this season when Kobe scores 29 points or more.

These last few games he seems to be more interested in reaching 30k scoring than winning the game.

While I don't mind Kobe taking a good amount of shots, it's clear we're more successful when he doesn't.The Lakers are 1-9 this season when Kobe scores 29 points or more.

These last few games he seems to be more interested in reaching 30k scoring than winning the game.

Keep in mind, that record takes into account the first couple of games under Brown when kobe was ultra efficient.

After Dantoni, it looks to me that Kobe was fine with being a facilitator most of the time and good with picking his spots, but after the last couple of losses, he's been more shoot first, trying to will the team to win on his own.

And again...we lost because of poor defense. Howard is a 50% FT shooter his whole career. He shot 50% that night. No surprise there. Normally "hack-a-50% shooter" strategy doesn't work because giving the other team a 1 point possession will not help unless you're guaranteed to score in EVERY of your possession. If you can guarantee that, then sure...go hack-a-dwight.

However, this works on Lakers because we play terrible defense, making it easier for them to score on their possession to make the "hack-a-dwight" strategy worthwhile.

So even if Dwight's FT shooting is our reason for losing(it's not), we can only blame the coach for not doing anything when a 50% FT shooter shoots 50% during that game.

Personally, I'm a Kobe fan for life, but I have to admit, our failure is largely due to Kobe's lazy defense. I'm sure Kobe is capable of playing great defense, since he's been in the All defensive first team for years, but lately (I'm talking the last few YEARS) he hasn't been playing ANY defense. He often just stands there and not rotating while the other team kicks it out for the open 3s.

That 40 point 4th quarter we had with Orlando was one of the best examples. There were a couple possessions where we have a 4v5 advantage, but yet Kobe refuses to defend/rotate, so magic gets a dunk or uncontested shot. Letting the other team shoot an uncontested shot when you have 1 more person for defense....is REALLY sad.

Dwight shot 50% (5/10) down the stretch so that's 5 points he gave us, but more importantly giving them an EXTRA 5 possessions because obviously no time is wasted since we're at the line. They started fouling him at 3:18 left in the game. Because we ran off no time with Dwight shooting FT's, they scored 7 points in 1:18 of game time. A time frame which wouldn't have existed.

Benching Dwight for 1:18 (when they started fouling Dwight) while Jordan Hill has played great defensively wasn't going to hurt us that badly. It gave the Rockets time that would have never existed.

Although that wasn't the end all, I think it was the biggest factor in the game. Kobe's pathetic defense to close out the game as well as our inability to grab a rebound also killed us.

Lakers didnt lose because of Dwight. He shot above his season average. He actually made 50% of them.

NBA article:

Quote:

Yes, the Rockets sent Howard to the line five different times in a 69-second span of the fourth quarter. Yes, he connected only five times on his 10 throws. But during that stretch Houston outscored the Lakers by just 7-5.

If you look deeper into the stats, Lakers committed 19 turnovers and couldn't even contain Rockets on the offensive glass. Lakers lost because of poor defense not because of Howard.

Lakers didnt lose because of Dwight. He shot above his season average. He actually made 50% of them.

NBA article:

If you look deeper into the stats, Lakers committed 19 turnovers and couldn't even contain Rockets on the offensive glass. Lakers lost because of poor defense not because of Howard.

He wasn't the only reason we lost, however his free throw shooting was one of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChineseGuy

And again...we lost because of poor defense. Howard is a 50% FT shooter his whole career. He shot 50% that night. No surprise there. Normally "hack-a-50% shooter" strategy doesn't work because giving the other team a 1 point possession will not help unless you're guaranteed to score in EVERY of your possession. If you can guarantee that, then sure...go hack-a-dwight.

However, this works on Lakers because we play terrible defense, making it easier for them to score on their possession to make the "hack-a-dwight" strategy worthwhile.

So even if Dwight's FT shooting is our reason for losing(it's not), we can only blame the coach for not doing anything when a 50% FT shooter shoots 50% during that game.

Personally, I'm a Kobe fan for life, but I have to admit, our failure is largely due to Kobe's lazy defense. I'm sure Kobe is capable of playing great defense, since he's been in the All defensive first team for years, but lately (I'm talking the last few YEARS) he hasn't been playing ANY defense. He often just stands there and not rotating while the other team kicks it out for the open 3s.

That 40 point 4th quarter we had with Orlando was one of the best examples. There were a couple possessions where we have a 4v5 advantage, but yet Kobe refuses to defend/rotate, so magic gets a dunk or uncontested shot. Letting the other team shoot an uncontested shot when you have 1 more person for defense....is REALLY sad.

/rant

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmw1racer

Lakers finally find a team they can beat, defeating the Hornets, 103-87... No fourth quarter meltdown this time.

Feels good to get a win no matter the opponent. Most importantly it was nice to see the bench play so efficiently.

Jordan Hill is a beast and just keeps proving he should be getting playing time.